A Gift For Those Weighed Down With Guilt Series

C. Christmas provided man with the freedom that he had not enjoyed since the fall.

1. In Genesis we read of man having a close intimate relationship with His creator.

2. We also see the results of sin. Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. (Genesis 3:8—NIV 2011)

3. Ever since sin entered the world we have been hiding from God and one another.

4. We must take note of an important fact. Jesus did not come into the world to simply help us to be able to save ourselves. He came into the world to save us!

5. Once again we enjoy an intimate relationship with our creator. We can stand before Him righteous and guilt free.

6. Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. (Romans 8:1-2—NIV 2011)

III. Understanding how to take the message of Christmas about guilt to heart.

A. We must realize that Jesus has paid the penalty for our sins.

1. He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption. (Hebrews 9:12—NIV 2011)

2. Through Christ God brought an end to the provisional forgiveness that was offered through the Old Testament sacrificial system.

3. When Jesus laid His life down on the cross it was a sacrifice of sufficient worth to bring about complete forgiveness of sin.

4. Regardless of how bad we think we are if we come to Him there is no sin that His blood cannot take away.

B. We must realize that through Christ we are no longer condemned for our sins.

1. We are our own worst critic. We have the bad habit of continuing to beat ourselves up for the sins that we have committed in our lives.

2. Since we often view ourselves as unworthy of forgiveness, guilt is the way that we can continue to punish ourselves.

3. As we mentioned earlier, Paul in Romans 8 reminds us that there is no longer any condemnation through Jesus Christ.

4. We have been made worthy to stand before God through the blood of Christ.

C. We must realize that the majority of our guilt feelings are self inflicted.

1. Have you ever wondered why we still feel guilty over things that God has already forgiven?

2. Satan uses our ability to feel guilty over everything we have ever done to keep us from being effective for the Kingdom of God.

3. As long as we continue to beat ourselves up we cannot fully focus on the task that Christ has called us to.

4. The vast majority of the time the only one that is condemning us is our self.

D. Remember these five things that are made possible by Christmas.

1. Christ has made it possible for our relationship with God to be restored.

2. We can live at peace because our sins have been forgiven and the guilt has been taken away.

3. Through Christmas God unmistakably showed the love that He had for mankind.